Sunday sales in store?

ATLANTA - Georgia voters could get a chance in the not too distant future to decide whether to allow their local stores to sell bottles and cans of beer, wine and whiskey on Sunday afternoons.

A bill in the state legislature would knock down one of the last Prohibition Era restrictions on alcohol, allowing each community in the state to decide whether to allow their stores to sell all week long - save for Sunday mornings.

"I think it has the greatest chance of passing than ever before," said Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers.

Supporters of Sunday alcohol sales pushed a bill during Gov. Sonny Perdue's administration, only to see it die when the governor announced he would veto the legislation if passed. Few politicians were willing to step out on a limb for a proposal that has entrenched opposition as long as they knew a veto was certain.

But Nathan Deal is governor now and, while both men are teetotalers, Deal told reporters Tuesday that he would sign a bill into law that would let local voters to decide the issue for their own communities.

"I believe that's what democracy is all about," he said.

Legislation introduced in the House and Senate this week is modeled on the law that let local voters decide whether to allow people to buy alcohol by the drink on Sundays, a law that passed leading up to the 1996 Olympics.

Tourism is one of the driving forces this time, too, according to Jim Tudor, lobbyist for the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores.

"Especially in markets like Savannah, the tourist areas, unless you're coming from Connecticut or Indiana, you're expecting to be able to make a purchase on Sunday," he said.

Convenience stores near the state border in places like Augusta and Brunswick lose sales on Sunday to the neighboring states, he said.

Opposition comes from two directions. Some conservative religious groups oppose all alcohol consumption and don't want to yield, especially on the day they go to church. At the same time, many owners of liquor stores see no reason to pay employees to open another day when the stores don't expect to make any more money.

A survey released Thursday by InsiderAdvantage shows that by a margin of 52-40 percent, the 456 registered voters questioned favor the legislation. The poll, taken Wednesday night, has a 4.5 percent margin of error.

Every sex, race and age group favored letting locals vote on Sunday sales, except for blacks, who oppose it 53-35 percent.

That slim majority support doesn't minimize the political cost for legislators voting for the proposal. Fully one in every four voters questioned said it would be reason enough to vote against re-election of any lawmaker who supported it.

An informal survey of legislators shows about one-third will vote in favor of allowing a local referendum, one-third against and one-third undecided.

For example, Rep. Keith Heard, D-Athens, supports the bill.

"It's a local-control issue," he said. "How can you talk about local control for other things if you're not willing to let the people vote on this?"

On the other hand, Rep. Doug McKillip, R-Athens, opposes it.

"I think six days is probably enough," he said.

And Rep. Tommy Benton, R-Jefferson, is undecided.

"I haven't made up my mind yet," he said. "I haven't heard from anybody in the district about it yet."

The Senate version is assigned to the Senate Committee on State and Local Operations where the author is chairman.